SUBJECTS: Cabinet retirements; Energy prices; Paris Olympics
KARL STEFANOVIC, HOST: Well, a major shake up is on the way to the Government this morning with the Prime Minister to announce a new cabinet after the retirement of Linda Burney and Brendan O'Connor.
SARAH ABO, HOST: Joining us now is Bill Shorten, who's from Melbourne and Opposition Leader from Sydney, Peter Dutton. Good to see you both. Bill, let's start with you. The feeling of winds. The feeling of change is in the winds. Tell us a bit more about what to expect.
BILL SHORTEN, MINISTER FOR THE NDIS, AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES: Well, congratulations to Brendan O'Connor and Linda Burney on their great service to the Labor movement and more importantly, the people of Australia. The Prime Minister will go through due processes on Monday. Swear in two new Ministers. I'm looking forward to it.
STEFANOVIC: All right, but is there going to be a greater change? A reshuffle? Let's face it, if Andrew Giles can survive under Albo, anyone can? Right?
SHORTEN: Let's just wait and see what happens with the reshuffle. We'll find out by Monday. We've been a Government with a great deal of stability. I mean, normally in a first term of a Coalition Government , they lose six or seven of their Ministers. So, really Albo set a record for stability.
STEFANOVIC: All right, so no big changes then?
SHORTEN: Well, we'll have to wait to see. I'm not expecting a lot, but having said that, you know, I guess we'll wait and see. We'll find out soon enough. Only three more sleeps.
ABO: Only three more sleeps. There's a bit more exciting stuff happening in three more sleeps.
STEFANOVIC: If you gotta do a change, do it during the Olympics.
ABO: That's right. Anyway, I mean, Pete, would you change anything if you're in his position? I mean, loyalty should be rewarded, right? That's what happens in politics.
SHORTEN: Loyalty is not always rewarded-oh-
[crosstalk]
ABO: That question was to Pete, Bill.
SHORTEN: Sorry, I beg your pardon. Yeah, sorry.
PETER DUTTON, LIBERAL PARTY: Whilst the Labor Party's at war with itself, you know, whilst the Labor Party's at war with itself, it's not concentrating on you at home. And people have got huge power bills and the economy is really in a precarious position. And as Karl rightly points out, I mean, if Andrew Giles doesn't get the flick, I just don't know who does because he's released 150 criminals unnecessarily from jail and there's no price to pay for it. I mean, it's just unbelievable.
STEFANOVIC: All right, now, moving on to surprises. To no surprises here. To anyone, the cost of power has surged 20% in the past quarter. Bill, Australians can't afford to heat their homes. It's the reality. The rebates are more than likely gone for most. What are you going to do? I mean, keep giving handouts until you wind farms are built?
SHORTEN: First of all, we inherited a complete debacle from our predecessors, and it is hard at the moment. Let's just be straight with people. It is bloody hard at the moment with energy prices, but what we've done is put the rebates, and I wouldn't dismiss $300 as nothing and $325 for small businesses. And we are using gas as our main source of energy going forward. And while we build our renewables, it's like, unfortunately, you just can't do these things overnight. And that's the truth. But we've got the right plan. I mean, Peter's got a nuclear fantasy where in 2050, he's got a plan for 4% of the energy grid costing $600 billion. We're the only people with a plan, so we're just going to get on with it.
STEFANOVIC: Peter, at best, it's going to take you ten years to build your nuclear power plants. Right? In the meantime, you can't possibly guarantee bills are going to go down under a Coalition Government .
DUTTON: Well, Karl, the drama is that when the Australians listen to their Prime Minister before the last election, Anthony Albanese, he was telling them he was going to reduce power prices by $275 each year, and instead the power prices have gone up by $1,000. And the renewables only approach of the Government , it's just not working. When the PM says, you know, it's free to have wind and solar, it just. It's not. You've got huge distribution costs, they're undermining the 24/7 power. And our argument is, yes, gas is incredibly important, renewables are important, but you need to have that 24/7 full time power. And that's what nuclear is doing for France, where you are. It's doing it for many other countries across Europe. And I just don't think Australia can turn our eye, you know, in the opposite direction and pretend that we don't need to have 24/7 baseload power. So, needs a tough decision. It's a big investment, but as we see in Ontario and elsewhere, electricity is cheaper with nuclear in the system. And at the moment, the Government 's only got a plan to drive prices higher. And for people who are struggling to pay their bills, at the moment, the Government 's only got bad news for them.
ABO: All right, well, Paris certainly is shining bright, so let's bring it back to Paris and to these Olympics. All eyes will be on this very city that we're in right now. Very fortunate to be in right now. Do we have a favourite Olympic moment? Bill, let's start with you.
SHORTEN: I was very lucky to be in Sydney when Cathy Freeman ran her 400 metres in 2000. That was electric. 100,000 people at Homebush and, you know, everyone had goosebumps upon goosebumps. That young woman athlete running for Australia and when she won. I'm getting goosebumps now, thinking about it. I'm also a big fan of Kurt Fearnley. You know, I've watched him win the 3000 metres at Beijing. He's just a great athlete too. But Cathy Freeman, that would be my first choice.
STEFANOVIC: Yeah, beautifully said, Peter, for you.
DUTTON: But again, I'll show my age. But I think Kieran Perkins in ‘96, pretty spectacular. A lot of the swimming. I just think those efforts, it's a personal efforts across any discipline. It's just. It's an amazing sacrifice they make. But my favourite moment is going to be in the 2024 Paris Olympics when Karl does that nude run down the track celebrating our bag of gold. So, Karl, let's go. Let us down.
ABO: He's been working out. Pete, I reckon you've got him.
STEFANOVIC: You know what? I'm not doing a nude run, I'm doing a nude swim in the Seine. Well, you know, it's distracting. Thank you, guys. Enjoy the Olympics. And we certainly are.